Remember when we used to do this? Not anymore..........

[pam]

America the cheap (for some)
With the euro strong and the dollar weak, pricey designer clothes look downright cheap to foreign tourists. No wonder the US has become the world's bargain basement.
By Ernest Beck, MSN Money

On a recent afternoon, international shoppers make their way through the sprawling outlet mall at Woodbury Common, a popular shopping destination two hours north of New York City. They meander among the faux New England-style buildings, home to more than 200 brand-name retail stores, eyeing with delight bargains ranging from $100 pairs of Jimmy Choo shoes to $200 Tag Heuer Swiss watches.

Some lug empty suitcases they plan to fill up for their flights home, and others are repeat visitors on special shopping tours. Almost all seem to have heard from friends back home that America's shopping bargains can't be beat.

"I heard from a friend that . . . this is a great place to come," says one young Brazilian man, showing off a watch he got for $70. At home, he says, it would have cost several times more.


Similar scenes of shopping madness are playing out in many downtowns and malls across the United States as Europeans and other foreign visitors take advantage of a lopsided exchange rate to indulge in long-distance retail therapy. In 2003, the U.S. dollar equaled 91 euro cents; it's now worth 68 euro cents, a 25% drop.


Even with the dollar making a stab at a comeback, it's hard to remember the days when it enjoyed parity against the euro.

Clutching fistfuls of euros, British pounds, Swiss francs and Canadian loonies, foreigners are streaming through America's top retail destinations in pursuit of bargains as if Neiman Marcus were a 99-cent store.


"It seems like all of America is one big discount shopping mall, and basically, that is what it is" for foreign shoppers, says Scott Krugman, a spokesman for the National Retail Federation, a Washington, D.C., industry group. "Without a doubt, foreigners are using the weak dollar to buy a lot of luxury."


Retailers aren't complaining. Given the U.S. economy's doldrums, having busloads of Europeans arrive at your door on a shopping spree is a "win-win situation in terms of bringing added dollars to the stores and at the same time offering tourists good value," says Karen MacDonald, a spokeswoman for Taubman Centers, a shopping mall operator in Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

At Taubman's Great Lakes Crossing mall in Auburn Hills, Mich., not far from the Canadian border, retailers say between 30% and 50% of all business is generated by international tourism.

Many of the shoppers are Canadians, who are lured by special promotions such as back-to-school discounts. Another large chunk of business comes from Germans who are in Detroit on auto-industry business.

In the past, when the U.S. dollar ruled the world, it was Americans who crossed into Canada for shopping on the cheap. So America's slide into the bargain basement has some watchers concerned: Will the image of America's retail sector, with its scores of premier stores, top brands and cutting-edge merchandising, be diminished by its new outlet-mall appeal?

Unlikely, argues Candace Corlett, a principal of WSL Strategic Retail, a consulting company in New York. "Europeans are seeing the U.S. marketplace the way we used to see Rome and London a long time ago, when we thought these cities were cheap," Corlett says.

She recalls a time when Americans chartered planes to shop at Harrods department store in London. If anything, she says, the influx of big foreign spenders "familiarizes people with the breadth of shopping opportunities in the U.S."

Moreover, European shoppers are generally gravitating toward luxury brands and high-priced items that are out of reach at home, not $8 dresses from Steve & Barry's.

"They grab five iPods at a time and scoop up cashmere sweaters," Corlett says. "The weak dollar gives them an entree to stores they could not have afforded before. The impression is: 'I can't believe I'm shopping at Bergdorf's.'"


Not all U.S. retailers are reaping the benefits, as tourists are shopping mainly in major gateway cities such as New York, Chicago, Boston, Miami, Las Vegas and Los Angeles, as well as in cities near the Canadian border. Still, retailers are mining the possibilities of attracting foreign tourists and promoting their stores, and the country, as a premier shopping destination.

Macy's, for instance, is offering a "savings pack," with 11% discounts and package deals with American Airlines to bring tourists from Manchester, England, to Boston. (The store's top foreign tourists are from Ireland, Canada and the United Kingdom.) The flagship New York City Bloomingdale's store features an international visitors center with décor reminiscent of a "world-class club," complete with multilingual receptionists who can arrange package delivery to hotels.

At Woodbury Common, audio greetings in six languages and international sizing charts are available. The mall's owner, developer and operator, Chelsea Property Group, also organizes shop-and-stay packages at local bed-and-breakfasts and arranges for shuttles to take shoppers to the mall.

In May, company spokeswoman Michele Rothstein recalls, a Spanish tour group chartered 28 buses to
take 1,500 tourists on a day trip from New York City to Woodbury. For visitors to the U.S., "shopping has been greatly elevated because that's what sells," Rothstein says.

Overall, a record 56.7 million foreign visitors arrived in the U.S. in 2007, up 11% from the previous year. And they spent a record $122 billion on travel- and tourism-related goods and services, a 13% increase over the previous year, according to the Commerce Department.

Shopping was certainly part of their authentic American experience, if not the focus of their travels. And that's just fine with U.S. retailers, particularly at a time when high gas prices and consumer belt-tightening might be keeping American shoppers at home.

There's only one downside to the rush by foreign visitors to buy America, says Krugman, of the retail federation: "It's a constant reminder to us of how weak the dollar is."

Produced by Elizabeth Daza

Published Aug. 29, 2008

[flo]

yep, these people are buying in America, but I have one question.  How much of what they are buying was "MADE IN AMERICA"?  That's why we "don't anymore".

[Diane Amberg]

That was exactly the point of crashing the dollar, but it isn't working enough to make a difference. It was also to discourage illegals from coming here too, there wouldn't be any jobs, illegal or otherwise. I suspect a few have stayed home, but not enough to make a difference. We need to rethink the trade agreements and start making our own product here, but now the banks are in trouble and may not have money to make business loans either. What a mess!

[pam]

I just heard this on the news. They were talkin about the vote goin on right now and this guy actually said that now we are goin to be even more dependant on CHINA and their massive reserves to cover OUR national debt.................................imagine that.

[Diane Amberg]

I'm watching right now and I'm scared to death. Unless something changes it will not pass, and the stock market seems to be in free fall. I've never seen anything like this. History is being made.

[pam]

Well, hold on to your head fred....................they rejected it

[Diane Amberg]

I saw and I'm literally sick. I've got a very sour stomach and I'm headed for the Tums.